Thursday, July 19, 2012

I said to do swimming strokes “correctly”…uh

Down below someplace, I talk about swimming injuries and counsel you to have an expert watch your strokes.

But now I see the conventional swimming advice may be wrong. Sharon Begley, Reuters, July 18, 2012, says Olympic swimmers would do well to follow their instincts to be really really fast.

Remember how we learned to form our hand into a tight cup to pull water while doing the crawl? Well, a professor of mechanical engineering at Duke says separate fingers and toes—make a wider “paddle.” Apparently the water is still pulled and pulled faster.

As for the backstroke, a propeller like sculling motion was recommended, but now a paddle—a deep catch stroke—seems faster.

Michael Phelps does the deep catch.

As for kicking, they have learned that 90% of the power comes from the ankles and feet—make your legs floppy like a dolphin's fluke.

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About Me

I am a long-time freelance health and science reporter, screenwriter, and blogger. My work has appeared in venues from the Costco Connection to Washingtonian and WebMD. I also used to teach creativity at the Smithsonian.